BYD Launches In Benin, Seychelles, Croatia, Slovakia, & Cambodia, Plus The World’s Largest Car Carrier!

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In April, BYD partnered with Dubai Taxi Company and Al-Futtaim Electric Mobility to deploy 200 all-electric BYD SEAL taxis across Dubai. The company also launched the world’s largest car carrier, the BYD Shenzhen, capable of transporting 9,200 vehicles.

I get excited when I hear news that one of the large EV makers has entered some of the small markets. That’s because a lot of the traditional auto giants generally don’t take an interest in some of the smaller markets for their conventional ICE vehicles, which probably means they won’t even look at these markets for their electric vehicles if they have any EVs in their stable. One company that is not following this traditional playbook and entering into new markets on what feels like a weekly basis is BYD. BYD has been forging smart partnerships with distributors in several markets to bring its EVs to those markets. With its wide range of BEVs and PHEVs across multiple price ranges and vehicle segments, BYD has built a strong portfolio to address most consumers needs around the world.

The African market is usually forgotten by a lot of businesses in general, and not just in the auto sector. BYD looks to be taking it seriously, though. BYD now probably has the widest presence of any EV maker on the African continent. In April, BYD officially entered the Seychelles market! BYD unveiled 5 models in Victoria, including the ATTO 3, DOLPHIN, SEALION 6, SEALION 7, and the SHARK. BYD says, as an eco-tourism hub, Seychelles embraces green mobility, marking the 15th African market that it has entered. Island states are perfect for EVs as most of them are small enough for most people to be ok with just home charging and therefore not have a lot of issues with range anxiety. This also allows for adoption of EVs without significant investment into public charging infrastructure first. 15 markets out of 54 in Africa is great, and from the looks of it, BYD will probably enter more markets on the continent soon.

In fact, shortly after BYD announced its entry into the Seychelles market, the company also followed that up with launching into the Benin market.

On the 24^th of April, BYD officially entered the Benin market in collaboration with CFAO Mobility. BYD marked the launch by unveiling two pure electric vehicle models, the ATTO 3 and the DOLPHIN. BYD also inaugurated a new showroom and after-sales service center located in Cotonou. The Benin launch means that BYD now has a presence in over 16 African countries. Some of the markets where BYD already has a presence in Africa include, Kenya, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Rwanda, Nigeria, Senegal, and Ethiopia.

Moving to Asia, on the 28^th of April, BYD held a ground-breaking ceremony for a new vehicle production plant in Cambodia! BYD laid the foundation for Cambodia’s first passenger vehicle production base in the vibrant province of Sihanoukville. Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sun Chanthol, Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Wang Wenbin, Sihanoukville Governor Mang Sineth, and BYD Asia-Pacific Auto Sales Division General Manager Liu Xueliang jointly broke ground, marking a monumental milestone!

By bringing its cutting-edge technology, BYD says it is advancing localized operations and accelerating the transformation of Southeast Asia’s new energy sector from “Intelligent Manufacturing in China” to “Made in Cambodia” in the process, helping to expand the electric mobility revolution to more areas around the world. It’s great to see that BYD is setting up an assembly plant in Cambodia.

In Dubai, Dubai Taxi Company partnered with Al-Futtaim Electric Mobility to deploy 200 all-electric BYD SEAL taxis across Dubai. The taxi company says this move helps support its ambitious goal of converting its entire fleet to electric vehicles by 2040. BYD has already signed quite a number of contracts with ride-hailing firms, taxi operators, and car rental firms in several countries around the world. It’s good to see more partnerships with fleet operators, which is a great way of growing its presence in those countries.

In April, BYD also entered the Croatia and Slovakia markets starting with the Sealion 07 EV and Song Plus DM-I (PHEV). The Song Plus will be known as the Seal U DM-I. The Seal and other models will follow in the near future. That’s two more European markets for BYD as it looks to grow its footprint there.

On 27 April, BYD launched the world’s largest car carrier, the BYD Shenzhen. Capable of carrying 9,200 vehicles, or about the size of 20 football fields. BYD Shenzhen set sail for Brazil with over 7,000 vehicles onboard. Brazil has been a key export market for the company, and it has now launched 6 ships as it scales up its export program. By 2026, BYD plans to have 8 of these RoRo ships in operation, and the capability of shipping about 1 million vehicles per year. Its first 6 ships are as follows:

• BYD EXPLORER NO.1
• BYD CHANGZHOU
• BYD HEFEI
• BYD CHANGSHA
• BYD SHENZHEN
• BYD XI’AN

These ships complement the usual carriers from other service providers. Also in April, using COSCO shipping, BYD exported several models such as the Seagull, Song Plus DM-I (PHEV), plus other models from Shanghai destined for Turkey, Greece, Italy, Spain, and the UK, where BYD had a record month of sales in March. Will this trend continue?

All of this activity in just one month! BYD is not slowing down following a good year in 2024. BYD sold 595,413 battery-electric vehicles in the last three months of 2024, while Tesla delivered 495,570 battery-electric vehicles during the same period, becoming the leader in BEV sales globally in that quarter. In Q1 2025, BYD cemented its position as the global top seller of BEVs. 2025 promises to be another big year for BYD and sending vehicles to even the smaller markets that most automakers ignore makes a difference as it helps drive adoption of EVs in those markets. I don’t think there is any other EV market that is officially selling EVs in over 16 countries in Africa, so well done to BYD. The next step hopefully is to look into an assembly and then a manufacturing plant on the African continent once demand hits critical mass.